Town gets federal funds to combat gas

PITTSBURGH (AP) - March 13, 2009

However, the money may not be enough for Versailles, which has been plagued by methane for more than 50 years.

In November 2007, it cost the state Department of Environmental Protection more than $80,000 to deal with a methane leak on just one property, a job initially estimated at $7,000.

Officials have said it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars - if not more - to solve the entire problem.

Versailles, a town of some 1,700 people about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, sits on hundreds of poorly sealed gas wells from the early 20th century and on an abandoned coal mine.

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